


Pride is What We Are

by LittleMissHeartfillia



Series: The Rolling Pin [4]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/F, M/M, Other, Pride Parade, Tumblr: FTLGBTales, WWTDP, modern day AU, sting and rogue have a gay ol time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-22
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-08-05 21:17:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16375157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleMissHeartfillia/pseuds/LittleMissHeartfillia
Summary: Sting, Rogue and their co-workers from The Rolling Pin have been through a lot together in only one year. Now they take to the streets of New York for Sting's first ever Pride March, and make new unlikely friends.





	1. The First

**Author's Note:**

> Another piece for @ftlgbtales event and one set in The Rolling Pin universe- actually a year later from the fic. Hope you enjoy cuz honestly I had fun writing and researching pride events for this.

A throng of people rustled against each other shoulder to shoulder, like cattle being herded. The sun beat down relentlessly, threatening to sear off any layer of skin that exposed itself in the summer heat.

The world was a million shouting competitions playing in repeat on full blast. It left a dull roar in Sting’s ears like he was standing in the inside of a megaphone during a particularly rowdy protest, but it exhilarated him. 

Sting grinned from ear to ear as Rogue lifted him on their back to give him a full view of the parade. The sea of people was just as diverse as the rainbows they were representing. Flags of every sexuality, in every color imaginable waved in the air,  as dense as trees in a forest.

“Do you see him? Do you see him?” Rogue kept asking. They leaned with the flow of the crowd and Sting’s shifting weight. 

Sting scanned the area as the crowd shuffled ever closer to the street where the parade was. He could see the floats and the celebrities and the musicians faintly through the waving flags and posters. Pride was starting and Sting wanted to see everything.

“Not yet,” Sting called down to Rogue, having to shout in order to be heard. “Are you sure he’s in the front?”

“What?” Rogue’s head lifted between Sting’s thighs and their eyebrows furrowed, trying hard to hear Sting over the roar of the crowd.

Sting placed both hands on Rogue’s forehead and leaned down so their faces were almost touching. There was a moment where the balance shift almost toppled them but Rogue wasn’t as clumsy as Sting was. They kept them both grounded. “Are you sure he’s in the front?”

Rogue nodded, finally understanding what Sting said. “Yeah, said he had first float rights or something-” Before Rogue could finish speaking the crowd picked up in volume. Screams of excitement rang out and Sting felt like they had suddenly been transported to Shawn Mendes’s sold out concert hall. It seemed spending Pride in New York City was bad news for their eardrums. He probably wouldn’t be able to hear anything tomorrow if this kept up.

Sting whipped his head back to the street, the shift in motion once again almost throwing Rogue off balance. Sting ignored their protests in favor of complete focus on the parade. It was already ten past the hour the parade was scheduled to start, but given Sting’s experience with schedules and public venues this was actually early for the event.

The floats, which had been stationary before now began blasting music and the crowd went wild. A very familiar voice whispered into a microphone that cast reverb around the entire park. “Are you ready to have some fun?” 

In his excitement Sting slapped the top of Rogue’s head repeatedly. “That’s him! He’s there!” Sting shouted pointing to the first float in the parade. Sting barely recognized the company van they had rented out now.

It was fully repainted with the gay pride flag colors, and the varying sexuality flags of all their co-workers on top to complete it; demi for Rogue, gay for Sting, bisexual for Yukino, lesbian for Minerva and pan for Rufus. But the real attraction was what the van was tugging along behind it. It was a rather small float compared to some of the others behind it but Sting, Rogue and their coworkers had all put a lot of effort into making it. And damn it if he wasn’t proud.

It was a stage decked out with a raised center and stairs leading down each side of it, giving access to see the performance from all sides. Sting had even bought some of those inflatable dancing tube men and painted them different sexuality colors. They waved erratically with the force of air from the pump, plastic tassels flapping wildly on the top of each one’s head.

Walking a bit ahead of the float were Yukino and Minerva, standing on either side. They had both chosen to wear extravagant outfits that featured the bisexual and lesbian flag colors on it. Yukino’s outfit was primarily the purple and blue for bisexuals. She wore a blue form fitting short pencil dress that stopped just before her lower thigh. On her back was a fluffy looking cloak that waved in the wind and showcased the flag of her sexuality.

Minerva was waving to every person they passed with a huge smile on her face as she strutted by in her bikini-esque outfit. She was a gradient array of violets and lavenders, showing her stomach and wearing a deep purple cardigan that almost swept to the ground.

Standing perfectly center on the stage was their co-worker Rufus. Sting barely recognized him in drag, but Rufus, or rather Regalia when he was in drag, pulled it off so well. How long had he had those kind of curves? Regalia was dressed majestically in a form fitting rainbow striped dress. He wore a wig that flared out wider than his own shoulders, it was pepto bismol pink and matched a little too well with the sequined dress.

And although Sting had warned him against it Regalia still wore his signature pink feathered hat. Only now, the feathering had been replaced by glittering silver tinsel that reflected all the different stage lights pointed at him. It combined with his over the top makeup that highlighted every curve in his cheekbones and made his eyes two times bigger. Needless to say, Regalia was  _ glowing _ .

“I’m ready to get down tonight,” Regalia rolled his words in a way that made him sound like he was purring. He bent down into the sexiest pose Sting had ever seen, showing his ass to the crowd and smirking. Sting had to admit he was entranced by the way Regalia moved his hips. He couldn’t figure out if he was attracted to it only because he knew Regalia was a guy or if Sting isn't actually as gay as he thought.

Suddenly the music kicked up in a high tempo and Regalia began pounding his fist with the bass, strutting along the stage and hyping up the crowd. Sting threw his arms in the air and cheered as loud as he could.

Rogue’s hand came up to slap his thigh and they clumsily presented their phone to Sting. “Oh right!” Sting said, remembering how Orga had asked to get video footage of his boyfriend being the queen he is. Of course Orga had already seen much of the performance, having helped Regalia get the choreography down for weeks, but he would only be able to see a frustratingly small glimpse of the final show from the rearview mirrors of the company van. Someone had to drive the float after all.

While Rogue somehow managed to walk them closer to the fenced off street Sting began taking video of the float as it passed. He made sure to zoom in at all the right times and to follow Regalia the entire way as he danced and sung around the stage.

Sting knew how much effort the rest of them had put into making this float look great but he hadn’t thought about how much effort Regalia put into his performance. It must have taken him weeks to learn how to move like that. Unless of course Regalia was just a natural at it. Sting wouldn’t be surprised to find that out either.

They followed the float for as long as the crowd would let them. Eventually Rogue put Sting back on his own two feet after almost toppling over on somebody. He got some of the best shots when Regalia occasionally leaned towards them and blew a kiss to the camera or gave them a sultry wink. Sting also made sure to get shots of Minerva and Yukino as they danced around the float somehow in sync with Regalia while constantly walking forward to keep with the float. 

The entrance of their float filled him with about as much pride as this day was made for. He felt on top of the world even as his co-workers rounded the block and continued down the other mile stretch of the parade. For the first time Sting was aware that they weren’t the only ones who had prepared stages and performances for this occasion.

He was torn from the euphoria of watching Regalia’s float go by when another, even bigger stage began blasting music and shooting lights and glitter bombs into the sky. It was an instant tone shift and one which startled Sting by how sudden it was.

Standing high on a float that reached for the sky were two extravagant drag queens. Sting couldn’t tell which one was more eye-catching. One of them wore taller stilettos, and an even more form fitting dress than what Regalia had on. Sting hadn’t thought that possible but this drag queen proved there’s curves in all the right places if your dress is stylish enough. The dress itself was like something out of a mardi gras parade, and with all the colors of the rainbow on it, it fit rather well for this one. Her makeup was smoky, making her pale face pop in contrast with her dark eyes, black hair, and bright pink lips. 

The second drag queen was moving wildly about the stage. Running the edge of the float so she could bend down and reach out to the people waiting in the streets. Hands and arms stuck out over the metal fencing on the street like thorns in a bramble patch. It was just enough for the eccentric queen to catch some high fives and lingering hand holds.

The way she moved highlighted everything about her flowing dress, and if Sting wasn’t mistaken that was not a wig the shorter drag queen was wearing. Her orange hair had been spiked to full volume at the roots and hit with cans of hairspray until the rest of the long locks fell to her shoulders almost like a lion’s mane. The dress she wore was short but it flowed like silk and the fabric was cut to show impossibly smooth hips framed by glittering diamonds. Sting found himself more attracted by this queen’s legs though. They were only slightly exposed   under rainbow colored fishnet stockings that managed to both leave nothing to the imagination while daring you to imagine so much more.

Sting’s jaw dropped. “Who are they?!” he cried, turning his disbelieving face to Rogue who was by his side. Rogue had a slight frown on despite the glorious display that was so clearly a fan favorite.

They shook their head. “Leo Leona and Tigressa Vistairs,” they said and Sting had half a mind to understand Leona was the one with the fishnet stockings and orange hair like a lion’s mane, hence her name. “They show up at pride every year, and every year they upstage us and take best float prize.” Rogue finished, something close to bitterness in their voice. Sting widened his eyes, he had never heard Rogue’s tone of voice slip anywhere close to things like the bitterness of envy. 

Sting gave a small chuckle and Rogue almost glared at him. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were jealous.”

Rogue huffed and puffed out their cheeks cutely. Leona and Tigressa’s float was close to passing them but Rogue pretended to be more interested in the street and the swirling mass of shouting fans around them. “It’s not jealousy if they cheat!” they blurt out.

Sting laughed some more. “How can they cheat? All you have to do is make a pride float. And isn’t the whole point of this to celebrate who we are? Why get caught up in the display of it?”

Rogue sighed then. “I know, it’s just-” They crossed their arms and leered at the float as it passed by them. Leona and Tigressa blew kisses and winked in their direction and the crowd roared around them. At one point, when Tigressa was closest to Rogue she uncapped a bottle of party glitter and tossed it over the crowd. The glitter caught the light and sparkled like fireflies in midday. It did everything to accentuate her curves and draw even more attention to her already glittering mardi gras bikini.

The exploding glitter landed on Rogue and rested gently in their black hair. They frowned at Sting as if to say,  _ see what I mean? _

Sting gave Rogue a patient smile. “So they have a lot of special effects. We don’t have to be the float that beats them do we?”

Just as the words left Sting’s mouth Leona and Tigressa’s music faded out and Tigressa adjusted her mouthpiece so she could speak to the crowd. “I hear Regalia performed before us, how’d you guys like her?” The crowd cheered. “Do you think we have Regalia beat or what?” The crowd went wild. “After all,” Tigressa droned on and Sting’s smile faded. “What’s a drag queen without all her special effects?”

There was no describing the deafening roar that slammed Sting’s ears. In a matter of seconds he could hear nothing, even the shouting of each fan as it grew in volume so much it dulled to a low roar.

Sting and Rogue shared a look. Rogue lifted their eyebrow and when the fans died down as Leona and Tigressa’s float carried on, they awaited a response. Sting gave a shrug, “Alright maybe they’re a bit show-offy.”

Rogue scoffed. “A bit? They’re like this every year. Always calling Rufus out and one-upping all the hard work we do.”

Sting thought for a moment. “Have you ever actually talked to them?”

Rogue seemed flustered and avoided speaking as more parade walkers went by and the crowd around them shuffled in excitement. “I don’t need to talk to them,” they said finally.

“That’s shortsighted. I’m sure if you just talk you’ll understand a bit more about them. Maybe they just want a friendly competition?”

Rogue groaned, a sound which was lost in the murmur of the large crowd but one that was also plainly visible on their face. “I don’t think-” Rogue began but Sting interrupted by grabbing their arm.

“Don’t make excuses, we can talk to them at the end of the parade. Now c’mon, we gotta follow Rufus and Orga to meet them by the finish.”


	2. Can You Keep A Secret?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leona and Tigressa aren't that bad and Sting's gay af

Sting and Rogue waited by the finish line for Regalia ‘s float to come around the corner of the block. Pride was essentially dead here. There were a few parties and families camping out waiting for the parade to reach them but most of the action was were all the floats were. (Particularly, Leona and Tigressa’s float.)

When Regalia finally caught up to them Orga quickly pulled the float into the same huge parking lot they began from. Regalia was just as quick to jump off the float and run to the driver’s door as Orga was quick to step out of the van. They met each other with so much force that Orga had to sweep Regalia into the air so they wouldn’t both go tumbling to the ground.

Orga spun Regalia like he was a schoolgirl and they laughed giddily together. Minerva and Yukino in the meantime collapsed on the pavement, panting and sweating profusely. Sting and Rogue made their way over to the four of them with face-splitting smiles. Sting, arguably more excited than Rogue, practically ran to them and jumped into Regalia and Orga’s hug, nearly toppling them all over.

Rogue paused by Yukino and Minerva to chat and ask if they needed water. When they nodded, Rogue moved to the van and opened it’s back to get out their cooler. Sting was too busy bouncing on his heels to focus on any one thing.

“That was wild!” he exclaimed, making wide sweeping gestures with his hands as he talked. “Rufus came out on stage and the crowd was like-  _ Waahhh- _ ” Sting mimicked a crowd’s roar lightly. “And I went  _ Yeeeaaahhh! _ ” Regalia giggled at Sting’s antics. The blonde was practically exploding even after an hour and a half of marching with the float. Orga’s laughter boomed. Soon Yukino and Minerva, newly revived with cold water bottles joined them. Rogue following closely behind. 

“Did you see those show-offs though?” Minerva asked as they inserted themselves into the group. She crossed her arms and Sting thought her pouting face looked a lot like Rogue’s had when they griped about Leona and Tigressa.

Orga scoffed. “Those pansies only  _ think  _ they one-upped us.”

Regalia shook his head, his poofed up wig shaking with it. “I don’t know, Tigressa was particularly stunning this year.”

“They directly called us out, though,” Minerva continued. “It’s like they want to start a war.”

Yukino who seemed to be just as indifferent as Sting to the “show-offs” said, “Well, if it’s a little friendly competition it can’t hurt, can it?”

This is when Minerva took Yukino’s shoulders in her hands and looked her in the eye seriously. “Babe, please. They do this  _ every _ year. It’s infuriating. Be infuriated with me.”

Yukino gave her a nervous smile and a shrug. Rogue cleared their throat, finally finding it time to step in. “Regardless of who came after you Rufus, you did an amazing job this year.”

Regalia gave Rogue a deep bow; so deep his hat slipped off. In his haste to catch it he made a mess of his hair, until bright pink strands stuck to each other across his face. Orga giggled as Regalia tried to blow away the strands and he pushed a few back where they were supposed to be.

“I’ll say! That’s the best Pride March I’ve ever been to!” Sting announced, regaining his excitement.

Rogue chuckled. “Isn’t this the only Pride March you’ve been to?”

Sting proudly put his hands on his hips and puffed his chest out. “Yup!”

Just then music from the next float drifted around the corner of the block softly. As it approached the song faded out more and soon Leona and Tigressa were pulling their float up next to them.

The drag queens jumped off the stage quickly and embraced. Leona gave her partner a quick, passionate kiss before Gray jumped out of the truck, his shirt already off, and yelled, “Break it up, you sluts. We gotta knock down the float before all the other people get here. I don’t wanna be stuck in traffic again.”

In a rebellious response, Tigressa yanked Leona closer to her and whispered, “You can’t interrupt perfection.” Gray rolled his eyes.

Rogue crossed their arms. “Well, look who’s helping the competition,” Rogue said their words challenging, but with a friendly smirk.

Gray shrugged. “Lyon’s my brother and he needed help,” Gray said, but something about his speech made his words feel cut-off. Incomplete. Gray cast a glance to Leona and Tigressa and seemed to ask them something with one raise of his eyebrows and jerked movement of his head towards Regalia but Tigressa just laughed.

“Sister, my dear dimwitted brother. I’m a  _ queen _ ,” Tigressa said.

Gray cursed under his breath but said, “Sorry, Queen of being a pain in my ass.” Gray didn’t say anymore as he started messing with the decorations on the float. Meanwhile Leona flashed Regalia a wide, too-cocky grin.

Strutting forward Leona extended a hand. “I don’t think we’ve been formally introduced. Leona Vistairs, dear. Out of drag you can call me Loke.”

Regalia straightened his back and accepted Leona’s outstretched hand. Forcing a smile he said, “Regalia, and charmed. I don’t remember us meeting officially before.”

Tigressa followed Leona’s suit and came up to shake hands with Regalia as well, stating her birth name as Lyon but to call her Tigressa Stars in drag. Rogue meanwhile seemed to be scowling slightly as if calculating the intention behind Leona and Tigressa’s words. Sting gave them a nudge with his elbow to which they rolled their eyes.

Rogue stepped into the conversation in the middle of Regalia complimenting their performance, although Sting could hear how forced it was coming out. He cast a quick look to Yukino and Minerva at his side as they all watched the conversation unfold. They both looked apprehensive but intrigued. Sting was still surprised none of them had met the queens before ,after four years of doing pride marches.

“Indeed, you did bring a professional air to the march this year. One of your best I’d say,” Rogue said, albeit talking a little through their teeth. Leona hummed her approval and Tigressa gave a little curtsy.

Regalia nodded. “It seems we’re to be rivals now. Orga, Rogue and I will have to step up our performance design.”

There was an awkward pause as Leona and Tigressa seemed to share looks of uncertainty before Gray groaned and yelled. “Just ask them! Stop being pussies you two!” Tigressa whirled around, but Gray was already around the other side of the float. He was currently losing himself in a loud phone conversation with who they could only assume was Natsu.

Regalia and Rogue gave the two queens a confused look to which Leona gave a deep sigh. “Well, that was brass,” she said, then she leaned in closer. “Can you keep a secret?”

Regalia ‘s posture suddenly changed. His gaze grew softer and he offered Rogue a look of kind understanding before nodding to Leona.

“Tigressa and I have always admired what you do on stage, Regalia,” Leona said and Regalia visibly took a step back, his eyes widening.

Regalia brought a manicured hand to his chest and looked the drag queens seriously in the eye. Now that the ice was breaking Tigressa gave a high pitched laugh. “We’re serious. We both remember the first year you performed and you looked so comfortable on stage-” Tigressa cast Leona a look and took her hand as she continued. “-I remember both Leona and I wanted to be able to achieve that kind of peace of mind inside our own bodies.”

Leona gave a supportive nod and squeezed Tigressa’s hand as she filled in. “Your performance was the reason we started experimenting with who we are and it’s the reason we discovered who we’re supposed to be.” Tigressa bit her lip and cast Leona a look.

Leona took a deep breath and her eyes watched the pavement. Sting was too busy watching Rogue and Regalia’s reaction. Every year they put aside two whole weeks to plan out their performance for the pride march and another full month to get all the choreography and float decorations together. Sting knew because Rogue had told him. Many nights in the past month he had walked into their house to find Rogue passed out at their desk, plans for the float and performance sprawled everywhere. 

So Sting wasn’t surprised that Rogue’s eyes were popping as wide as they were. But it didn’t make it any less entertaining. Especially after the conversation they’d had before.

“The real reason we became drag queens,” Leona went on, “and the reason we’ve always tried to compete with your floats is because...well, we’ve admired you for a long time. But our fans think we’re in competition, so we didn’t want to say anything to ruin our reputation.”

Tigressa nodded. “We hope we haven’t offended you in the past by dragging you into senseless competitions. Truthfully, we’d like to collaborate with you-” Rogue’s mouth dropped now. Regalia seemed frozen in place. “for the march next year. If you’d teach us?”

Suddenly then Regalia began to laugh. “Well, if you insist darlings, I suppose I’ll have to make time for underlings.”

Leona and Tigressa’s eyes lit up wildly. Suddenly Tigressa’s hand flew out. When Regalia took it she shook enthusiastically. “Deal! Here take our cards, we can start planning for next year soon. Right now we have to go but you won’t be disappointed, Regalia, I promise!”

Regalia shook his head, “Please, my friends call me Rufus.” Leona and Tigressa’s smiles grew bigger but then Gray was breaking up the conversation once more.

“C’mon ya fangirls we got shit to do!” he yelled fidgeting with the waistline of his pants now as he walked around put excess decorations in the back of the truck.

Tigressa leaned in to whisper to them, “He’s just grumpy because his boyfriend had another march to go to today and we’re keeping him from it.” 

Leona snickered with Tigressa after Gray shouted back, “I know exactly what you’re saying.”

“Well, we best get to work, this is only the start of our day,” Leona said. “Ciao for now, darling.”

Sting waved in unison with Rogue and the others as Leona and Tigressa went off, most of their float dismantled, and left the parking lot just as the other floats began filing in.

When Rogue turned around Sting gave them a look. Rogue pushed his shoulder playfully. “Don’t you dare say it.”

Sting giggled. He wasn’t one to hold back, not anymore. “I told you they were just jealous.”

“Envious more like,” Regalia said, straightening his back. “Well, Orga-” Regalia turned to his partner. “I think next year we’re going to make the best float we’ve ever created.”

Orga smirked. “Hell yeah-” Orga punched one of his fists into the other. “-I love seeing you all determined ‘n shit.”

Minerva, who didn’t seem to share their enthusiasm, rolled her eyes. “Lovely, this is all heartwarming. Y’know the parking lot is going to be a travesty soon we should leave if we want to beat traffic.”

Yukino poked Minerva’s side. “You don’t trust them, huh?”

Minerva looked at her aghast, “That’s hardly relevant!” she said but her face gave away that what Yukino said was true.

Within the next few minutes all of them had managed to squeeze into the van and start the ride home. It would be a long three hours till they would be back at Orga and Rufus’s home. Sting didn’t mind the long car ride.

He didn’t mind any of the minor inconveniences that used to bubble under his skin. Not since he met his friends. Especially not since Rogue started becoming comfortable enough around Sting to rest their head on his shoulder. Which is exactly the action Sting was blessed with halfway into the ride, when everyone started winding down from the excitement and feeling the toils of the day.

He smiled, surprised when Rogue had accidentally fallen into Sting’s shoulder after nodding off. But he stayed as still as he could. The only thing on Sting’s mind was prolonging the day they had shared together. Even as Rufus and Orga dropped both Sting and Rogue off at their block, he kept wishing they could end the day together. Even as Sting lay his head down to sleep he kept wishing for Rogue’s warmth to be beside him.

“Thanks for coming with us today,” Rogue had said. “I know Rufus appreciated everything you did to help us.”

Sting chuckled. “No problem, I had a good time.”

There was a moment of hesitation in which Sting was expecting Rogue to say goodbye but instead they said, “I hope we can do more stuff like this together. It’s nice to finally see you opening up and enjoying yourself.”

Sting’s anxiety ridden, gay brain was racing too much to think after what Rogue said. Somehow, though, he managed to voice his agreement and give Rogue an impromptu shaky goodbye before bolting back inside his apartment building.

Sting thought about what Rogue had told him now. He replayed the words in his head. Sting smiled and thought to himself,  _ Maybe we do have a chance _ ...


End file.
